Developers hoping to transform the former Tolly Cobbold brewery site as part of a major transformation of Cliff Quay are hoping planners will decide on its fate next month.

Plans for the site were submitted to the borough in September, and there have been detailed discussions with officials and residents.

Now the application could be discussed by the council’s planning and development committee in February – but even if permission is granted, work is unlikely to start on the site until the autumn.

And it could take three years until the development is completed.

Clive Thompson of Bury St Edmunds-based Pigeon developments said the scheme could create a new destination for visitors and would link in to the rest of the Waterfront.

The first drawings of the lecture theatre/performance space to be created at the top of the former brewery have been created.

Mr Thompson said: “This would be a wonderful facility for the public – and could also be used by UCS which is also on the Waterfront.”

The conversion of the former brewery has been designed by John Lyall, the architect responsible for the conversion of Dance East’s Jerwood Dance House.

The developers have also spoken to Ipswich Transport Museum about the possibility of moving to the site.

The museum’s lease on the former Ipswich Borough Transport depot runs until 2026, but the borough has made it clear it would like that site to be included in a major redevelopment of the Priory Heath area of the town.

Museum trustee Mark Smith said there had been talks with the developers, but this was still at a very early stage.

He said: “We have said ‘thanks for talking to us’ and we are keeping all our options open – but there is no rush for us and we will see what happens in the long term.”